


Blood Witch

by FoxyMouse



Series: S.H.I.E.L.D. Interns [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Blood, Blood Magic, Magic Revealed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-08
Updated: 2012-12-08
Packaged: 2017-11-20 15:19:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/586795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoxyMouse/pseuds/FoxyMouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crystal is Pepper Potts (relatively) new intern and personal assistant, hand chosen by Ms. Potts after Tony has officially joined the Avengers Initiative and has started to help rebuild everything after the destruction in New York. She seems relatively normal, despite her ADHD and caffeine addiction, but it turns out she was hiding a very big secret; and secrets do not remain secrets for long from S.H.I.E.L.D.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Oops - or - Coming out of the Veins

I really need this job. Like, I really, really need this job. I’m fresh out of college with very little experience, and my counselor suggested I apply for this internship with Stark Industries. I don’t know how I got it. I don’t even know how I got Ms. Potts’s attention, let alone how I ended up as her secretary; but, here I am, attending to Ms. Potts schedule, phone calls, and paperwork.

Today we’re visiting S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters again. I don’t like this place. It reminds me too much of my Dad’s old job. He worked for them back for them before they were S.H.I.E.L.D. Too many guns, too many secrets, too many nights where I never saw him at home. It made me twitchy.

It didn’t help that the labs smell way too much like a hospital. Have I mentioned yet that I hate hospitals? Because I do. I hate them a lot. Like, a whole, whole lot.

“Crystal, how much coffee have you had to drink today?” Ms. Potts asked me abruptly as I fidgeted behind her in the line for the metal detectors.

I couldn’t remember. Crap. One in line at Starbucks to get Ms. Potts her morning coffee. Another one at Starbucks. The one in my hand right now. “Three grande lattes.” I chirped back at her as I held back a yawn and tried not to rub at my eyes and ruin my eye shadow.

She sighed. That wasn’t good. It was never good when Pepper sighed. It was like that ‘I’m disappointed in you, but I won’t voice it, so I’ll just do this put-upon sigh instead and make you feel like a very small person-’

“I’m sorry!” I was totally not sounding like a five-year-old caught eating ice cream out of the tub. Totally. Wasn’t. “But I stayed up really late last night trying to finish your paperwork for this morning-” I totally didn’t need to breathe, nope, no air for me, “because R&D called last night and they took forever to get off the line and-”

Ms. Potts put up a hand to silence my rant, “It’s okay Crystal. Thank you for getting all of the paperwork together on time, and-”

“Ms. Potts,” she looked down at me, and I was totally not bouncing up on my toes, absolutely was not, “I really need to pee.”

Pepper sighed again.

It took forever, and I mean, FOR-EV-ER to get to the labs. First there was the metal detectors, then the retinal scan, and the ID checking, and the body search (that lady’s hands were COLD) before we even got into the actual building.

Then, there were the guards. They have to follow us everywhere. Like, everywhere. It sucks so badly, but we can’t get rid of them. I know, I tried once; he even followed me into the bathroom. It was creepy.

So, there are these two guards following us, who are at least pretty cute. I don’t remember their names though; their first name that is, flirting with the cute guard using only his last name just isn’t worth it. You have to figure out their first name first or else it isn’t a challenge.

Sometimes when we’re at S.H.I.E.L.D. we’re here to see Director Fury (his name is well deserved), but most of the time we come here so Pepper can yell at Tony for not being where she can find him easily. I used to think he hid out here just so he could annoy Ms. Potts (he would totally do that), but now I just think he has a total science-man-crush on Dr. Banner.  
I don’t blame him. The man’s like a big fluffy teddy bear, all wrapped up in really nice dress shirts. Then of course there’s those glasses, and he’s so insecure it’s adorable and-

“Crystal could you hand me those papers Mr. Stark needs to sign?” Ms. Potts asked me, holding her hand out expectantly before we reached the lab.

I am a total goof-ball. Absolutely a goof-ball. I should have had these out already, and the stupid clasp on my briefcase isn’t cooperating and, “Here you are Ms. Potts.” She took the stack of paperwork without looking at it, and I dug around in my folder for the specs from R&D that were emailed to me last night. They had demanded that Tony – I mean, Mr. Stark – see them as soon as possible, and this was the soonest any of us were going to see him, so I needed to make sure that he get these before we left for the Board of Directors meeting that was scheduled for ten and probably wouldn’t get out until two because those old farts always talk too much, and smell like nasty cologne, and always try to look up my skirt when Ms. Potts wasn’t looking-

“Tony, I need you to sign these reports-” Ms. Potts started, making a beeline for Tony on the other end of the lab where he was playing with a metal rod, turning it around in his hands and flicking at some of the dials on the bottom.

“Not now Pepper, I’m about to try something.” Mr. Stark waved her off with a flippant hand and turned to Dr. Banner, who was curled over a microscope, occupied with something that looked really, really important.

So I ignored them, so I could put down the really hot coffee that was getting hard to juggle, and dug around for a pen in what I thought was going to be the normal five minute argument Pepper – I mean, Ms. Potts – always had with Mr. Stark every time he needed to sign something. Except, this time Ms. Potts started screaming, and there was this really loud roar, and then something was falling on me, and I had to put my arm up- and I was bleeding. 

Oh god, no, no no no, I was bleeding, and this was not good.

Then, there was this big, green, FACE in front of mine, and I was screaming, and it was screaming- and it snarled at me- and I put my arm up to protect myself and, oh no-

Four big red crystals were now sticking out of that big green guy’s chest, and Pepper was screaming, and Tony was yelling, and all I could do was apologize over and over-

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I shouted, my arms going out towards the green guy, and then to Pepper, who was still screaming.

Tony was the next one to shout, “Pepper! Since when can she do that?!”

“I didn’t know she could do that!” Pepper screeched, and she had that panicked, almost-hyperventilating face she gets when Tony does something stupid, and I CAUSED that, and, oh god I was still bleeding all over the floor.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! Please don’t fire me!” I tried to stop the bleeding, I really really tried, but it wasn’t stopping and the green guy was still screaming, and those stupid crystals were still falling from my arm – and it was getting really hard to breathe, and I still really had to pee.

Suddenly there was more shouting, and screaming, and then there were more guards, and the green guy was shrinking, and suddenly there were all of these guns in my face. I couldn’t help it, I really couldn’t. I just started crying, and they were screaming at me to identify myself, and Pepper was yelling at them, and Tony was yelling at Pepper, and all I could say over and over was, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I really really didn’t mean to-”

“Ms. Lewis, you’re going to have to come with us,” cute guard #1 was looking down at me, with his gun drawn and I couldn’t stop crying, and my make-up was probably a mess, and I was still bleeding all over the place – but instead of sitting there in all the dust and ruble I got up and followed them out of the lab, and in an elevator and into this room with only a table and a chair and they locked me in there.

I wanted to scream, and cry, and curl up in the corner but what I did instead was look at the ceiling and say, “I’m really really sorry. I didn’t mean to. Please don’t have me fired, cause I really need this job.”


	2. I can cry right? - or - The Big Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal is now in questioning with Ms. Uniform, a very skilled S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that seems to know her father from his time spent working as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. 
> 
> Also, Pepper and Tony have a fight.

It didn’t take too long before they let me go to the bathroom, and stitched up the cut on my arm. By then this brunette in a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform was staring at me, and I was staring at the table, and wishing that I had something for my headache – maybe some caffeine – and something to clean my face up with. I knew I was in trouble. I didn’t want to look at her face, because seeing that I was in trouble would make this all so much worse.

“I only got two hours of sleep last night,” I mumbled to the table. It didn’t seem very impressed. Nor did the snap of the folder the lady had in front of her closing shut.

“Ms. Lewis, it says in here that you were institutionalized-” Oh why did she have to bring that up? Why? Why did everyone have to bring that up? That was always the first thing that people asked about. “-when you were sixteen, correct?”

I nodded at the shiny aluminum that was stained by some of the dried crystals on my arm.

“Why?”

Breathe. Breathe. Deep breaths are okay, she’s not going to yell at you for breathing. 

“Because I hurt myself.” Tears were okay, it didn’t matter that this was all on camera and being recorded, no-one was going to say anything about me crying.

“Why? And where?” the uniform asked.

Deep breath. Deep, deep breath. It wouldn’t hurt to show her, Pepper had only gotten me the latex so the upper-ups and the media didn’t follow after me. The lady in the uniform didn’t react as I pulled away the latex skin from my left arm to show all of the jagged white scars underneath. It was a neat trick. One I wished I had known in college. If I could deal with hospitals I would have gotten them removed a long time ago.

“Because my mom died,” a small puddle appeared on the table, and I bit down on my lip to stop it from quivering. No one was going to make fun of me, they weren’t going to yell at me, it was going to be okay. Ms. Potts would come to see me, if she didn’t want to fire me, and they weren't going to hurt me because I didn’t do it on purpose-

“Ms. Lewis-” Bad tone, bad bad tone. I looked up at the uniform lady and ignored how hard it was getting to breathe. “I need you to talk to me.”

After a moment of silence, I blurted out the first thing to come to my mind. “I’m not allowed to have a tissue, am I?”

———————————————————————————————————————-----------------------------------------------------------------------

On a different floor, in a different room, Tony and Pepper were arguing. Loudly.

“Didn’t you do a background check on her-” he snarled, pacing back and forth as Pepper remained in her seat, not trusting her legs to work right.

“Of COURSE I did a background check on her Tony. The company did three-” Pepper was shaky, and Tony was twitching, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents outside the door were not helping Pepper’s calm.

He turned on her, “How did they not catch that your new little assistant could shoot diamonds out of her arm with her own blood!” Tony wasn’t angry with her, Tony could never be angry at Pepper. Tony was angry because someone Pepper had trusted could have hurt her and that was something that was never going to be allowed.

“It didn’t show up! She’s never done this before. She’s never even bled around me before-” Tony snorted, and Pepper didn’t hold back her own testiness in her glare this time as she continued, “She has never bled from being cut before – and she’s always paranoid about me getting hurt-”

“-Because she’s a freak that could turn your blood into gemstones Pepper!” Tony snapped. “Can she do that?” He took a moment to consider the science, “Can she do that to other people or is it just to herself?”

Pepper sighed, “I don’t know. She’s never done this before. I never had any reason to think she was dangerous before-”

Tony spun around, dropping his mind away from the equations and the different crystallized forms he was theorizing blood could be made into, “Is she dangerous?” he asked in curiosity. 

“I mean, all she did was put her arm up in front of the big guy-”

“I don’t know Tony. I don’t know.”

—————————————————————————————————————-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stupid, stupid questions. The uniform lady was asking the wrong things. She didn’t understand what she was talking about- “I am not a mutant!” I screeched again, frustrated that she wasn't listening to me. “They, they, the doctors, in the ward?” I looked up to make sure she was following me, then stared back down at my hands because I was NOT in trouble, I was not, “They ran my blood through the scanner thing, and they- they told me that I didn’t have a mutant gene. Cause, y’know, if- if I was that means dad would have it, and dad doesn’t have it-”

“Your father used to work for this facility, didn’t he?” the uniform asked, and I had to look up. She wasn’t frowning at me, she didn’t even seem curious.

Oh God. “You’re not going to call him, are you?” I pushed back the chair and leaned over the table, “Please don’t call my dad. Please!”

Was that amusement? It was. The uniform was laughing at me a little. Well, laughing was better then yelling. “No, Ms. Lewis. Your father does not have high enough security clearance-” He didn’t? That was weird. I always assumed my dad had like the highest ever security clearance. “Currently, yours is higher than his-” well that would be something to brag about the next time he called to check up on me, “and Ms. Potts’s is higher than yours-” 

Well, duh.

She was glaring at me. Had I said that out loud? I guess I’d said that out loud. Oops.

“-because Mr. Stark talks too much.” There was a moment of silence as I sat back down after realizing that I was still inches from Ms. Uniform’s face. The folder moved again, opening to the page with- with a copy of my mom’s autopsy. Oh God. Oh god oh god oh god- air. Breathing. 

They taught you these things, remember?

“Your mother died when you were sixteen,” breathe, in and out, in and out, “and you were institutionalized-” I hate that fucking word, “the next month.”

Movement, head shaking, and silence from the uniform. “I- I was fifteen. I turned six- sixteen in there.”

Still silence from the uniform. Paper turning, with a small noise, “Why were you institutionalized Ms. Lewis?” Silence. “The real reason, please.”

Oh God. Air, just breathe Crystal. It’s okay. You’re not in trouble. “Because my dad found me scratching my arm in my room, and-”

Uniform’s hand slammed down on the table. It was loud. Too loud. I needed to breathe, but it was so hard to breathe, “The truth Ms. Lewis!”

I couldn’t help the crying, or the rocking. It was just too small in here, and there was so little air, “It is the truth!” Fingers dug into old scars and I tried, I tried so hard to not make them bleed. That would be bad, very very bad right now. “I was scratching at my arm and the blood-” take in air before you collapse! “-the blood just turned into- into crystals, and- and Dad freaked out-”

Her voice was calmer this time, a little soothing compared to the yelling, “Why didn’t you tell the Doctors about this Ms. Lewis?”

Breathe. It’s all going to be okay. Maybe they can make it go away. Maybe. “Because I- because I shouldn’t- shouldn’t be able to do this…” the crystals fell from where my nails had dug into my skin onto the table, and then the alarm went off and Ms. Uniform tackled me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, so, yeah. Chapters are going to be relatively short from here on out as I didn't really get the chance to do much work on this series as time went on (also because writing in Crystal's POV is oddly draining; seems I don't have enough energy to portray her properly).


	3. Rubix Cube'd - or - That Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal gets placed in the hospital ward while S.H.I.E.L.D. tries to figure out the source of her power. Is she a mutant? Is she a magician? There are a lot of questions, and most of them Crystal doesn't have the answer to.
> 
> Also, Tony and Bruce are puzzled by science.

“So, Bruce, what kind of freaky mutant powers was Pepper’s assistant hiding?” Tony asked with a clap on Bruce’s back. It had been a few days since the incident, and Crystal had been sedated and hidden somewhere in S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony, of course, knew exactly where, but he wasn’t going to tell Pepper that until he knew that she was safe.

Bruce took a moment to fix his glasses and straightened up from his microscope. “None,” Tony’s look of puzzled frustration was worth the scratch he had just put in Bruce’s glasses. 

“She’s not a mutant Tony.”

Tony did not look at all happy by this comment. “Well then what is she? Some genetically-altered super-puppy made to follow Pepper around like a shadow?” His arms flapped around in the air for a moment to go along with his description before picking up his scotch and muttering into the glass, “Seriously, she’s like a freaking cocker spaniel.”

Normally that description of Pepper’s assistant would have wrangled a smile out of Bruce; instead it brought forward a frown. “There’s nothing wrong with her DNA. It looks like that of a normal human. However, there is something wrong with her blood…” he switched out the plate under the microscope and rolled his chair out of the way so that Tony could look through it.

It only took a few moments for Tony’s eloquence to rear its head. “What the hell is that?” he asked Bruce, pulling away from the microscope in confusion.

The broader man shrugged. “I’m not sure. It’s some sort of protein marker that much I do know, but I don’t know what it means. ” They both looked at each other, the image of the strange diamond structure stuck in their minds.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

I needed something to do with my hands. Like, badly. They had me stuck in this hospital – a HOSPITAL – and had me tied down to a bed. The first day I had spent crying as they stuck me with needles. Dr. Banner had stopped by once, and he had taken some of the blood that they took from me. I didn’t know what they were doing. I didn’t know what all of their samples would tell them. I just know that I wanted OUT.

The second day was even worse. Ms. Uniform came back, and she asked more and more questions, but I couldn’t answer them because I kept crying. Eventually she got frustrated and left. Except, she didn’t look frustrated, but her shoulders had that hitch like Pepper gets when Tony’s being difficult.

I didn’t mean to be difficult, I really didn’t. It’s just they had me stuck in here, and I couldn’t leave, and there was nothing I could do to be useful- oh god, Ms. Potts had been without her morning coffee for two days. Did they know that? Did they know how Pepper got when she didn’t have her coffee?

Bad, bad bad bad.

“Hey, guys?” My voice did not have a whiney pitch, it did not. I was perfectly okay, even if I had been crying for the past two days. “Can- can I have a rubix cube or something?”  
Four hours later Ms. Uniform was back, and she had a rubix cube. She let the restraints out only enough that I could sit up and mindlessly solve the cube, undo the cube, redo the cube while she stared at me.

She was a brunette, with long legs, a slim body, and she spent time in the salon. She needed a massage, and she was a swimmer based off of her muscle tone. She was not happy with me.   
Really not happy with me. “Are you ready to talk yet Ms. Lewis?”

“I HAVE been talking.” It was okay to whine cause it was the truth. “You’re just not listening.”

Her lips pursed. “Is that the truth?”

“Yes!” I screamed. I couldn’t help crying. She just wasn’t listening.

Tap, tap, tap. Ms. Uniform wore really high heels. They had to be bad for her back. Her heels were almost higher than Pepper’s. “You know Ms. Potts hasn’t had her coffee in two- no three days- and she has very important meetings, and you should really make sure that someone’s checking up on her- and- and- when can I go home? I just want to go home.”

She leaned forward, and I tried very hard not to lean back. Solve the rubix cube, undo the puzzle, resolve the rubix cube. “I have someone I would like you to meet Ms. Lewis.” I groaned.

“Why the hell are we in the hospital?” the voice was a higher pitch than it should be, and belonged to a boy with copper hair like Ms. Potts and greenish eyes. “Cause Ms. Uniform said so.” This voice was chirpier than the other, but still from the boy. “I don’t like her. I don’t like her either. She’s bossy, always telling us where to go, and won’t let us relax.” Every sentence the boy spoke was in a different voice, and there were shimmers and glimmers of different colors swirling around his head. Apparently those weren’t supposed to be there, because when Ms. Uniform turned around the colors disappeared immediately.

“Alex, this is Ms. Lewis, Ms. Lewis, this is Agent Alex.” Ms Uniform stood up and placed Agent Alex in the chair in front of me. Stop mid puzzle. He was really tall, taller than me, and kind of lanky and skinny.

“Don’t see why we have to be here,” Agent Alex started to mutter, but stopped with an, “Ow!” when Ms. Uniform dug her nails into his shoulder.

She leaned over and whispered into his ear, “Just like we’ve talked about…” He grumbled something I couldn’t hear, and then his hands were on mine and the hospital disappeared. I knew where I was, but I wasn’t really there, not in my head at least. Ms. Uniform was talking but I couldn’t hear her. All I could see was that night in my room- breathe, breathe, just breathe and ignore the pain in your arm – it was going to be okay. The door opened. Oh no, no no no. Dad was standing there in his pajamas. He was scared, and he’d been crying. And, oh no, don’t look at my arm. Don’t! Pain, so much pain when he grabbed me there – screaming and more blood, but it wasn’t mine, and Dad was cursing, and my door was slammed and- and-

The hospital lights appeared again for an instant and then I was in the ward. I was in my room, my neat blue little room with the bird outside the window. I was scratching again. Crystals littered the floor and no- oh no- they can’t see them. The crystals hurt going down my throat at first, but then I couldn’t feel it, and then the crystals were liquid again and-

Ms. Uniform was staring at me, and she didn’t seem happy. However, she didn’t seem horribly angry either. I looked at Agent Alex for some clues as to what had happened, but he didn’t really seem to be HERE at the moment. A nurse at the end of the hall dropped her tray and I started to cry again. What was going on? What just happened? Why is the nurse looking at me like that?

Apparently I had been speaking again without knowing it because all Ms. Uniform said was, “It appears you are telling truth Ms. Lewis,” and with that she picked Agent Alex up out of the chair by the front of his shirt and left. Thankfully, the nurse left and I was left alone. Restart the puzzle, solve the puzzle, undo the puzzle, resolve the puzzle…


	4. Deductions - or - Strategic Defense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Crystal isn't as dimwitted as she seems - because why in the world would Virginia "Pepper" Potts hire someone as seemingly incompetent as Crystal on two hours of sleep? Clearly there is more to the story.
> 
> Also, Pepper makes a phone call.

To their credit, Pepper didn’t have to wait long for the phone to be answered. “Yes Ms. Potts?” Director Fury drawled snappily on the other end of the phone.

“When do I get my assistant back?” Pepper asked, swirling in her chair until she could get up and pace in her office. The view was as stunning as ever, but Pepper had no interest in it today. She hadn’t had a single decent cup of coffee in a week, she had to go back to keeping her schedule herself, and it was cutting out valuable time from the shareholders and the CEOs.

Fury didn’t miss a beat. “You don’t.” Pepper’s lips pressed into a very thin, unamused line. 

“Ms. Potts you brought an unidentified, untrained magic user into my facility-”

“I was unaware of her powers Director Fury, as your agents and yourself are well aware-” Pepper interjected testily. She really needed a good cup of coffee.

There was a small bout of silence over the line as Director Fury let her feel his displeasure at being interrupted. He was, after all, not Tony Stark, and Pepper could not expect to have a conversation with him as she would normally have with Tony. “I’m sorry, but do I sound like Tony-mother-fuckin-Stark to you Ms. Potts?” Pepper tried to interject, but was unable to as Fury continued, “When I say you don’t get your assistant back, the same assistant who attacked one of my operatives, and could be a potential threat, I mean that you don’t get your mother-fuckin’ assistant back.”

Another small bit of silence creeped across the line before Fury ended the call with one last remark, “And Ms. Potts? Any attempt by Mr. Stark to ‘reacquire’ your assistant will not be appreciated.”

With that the call was done, and there was nothing Pepper could do. Her assistant had, essentially, used a weapon in a top secret government facility. She now belonged to the military, and Pepper was never going to have a good cup of coffee ever again.

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

It was day three, and there was no coffee. There had been no coffee in far too long. Like, way way way too long. Like, coffee systems had crashed, and everything was getting twitchy. Did they not understand that I needed coffee more than air?

Ms. Uniform kept stopping by. Each time she brought a new puzzle. Puzzles were good. Puzzles kept me grounded. Puzzles made sure I didn’t scratch. I didn’t need to look any more like I’d been attacked by an angry something any more than I already did. The scars always brought questions. Lots and lots of questions. Stupid questions, non-understanding questions.

These metal puzzles were too easy. Just undo them. Put them back together. Undo them. Toss them against the wall when the nurse comes by because she won’t stop staring at you. Grab another puzzle, solve it for the four hundred seventy-sixth time. Try not to glare at Ms. Uniform when she comes by with another too-easy puzzle.

“When’re you gonna stop testing me?” I asked.

She wore different shoes today. No make-up. Bad day or rushed day. Can’t decide which yet. Her jaw twitched. …Bad day. “Excuse me?” Ms. Uniform asked her voice clipped and polite.

I tried not to sigh. I really did. Treating Ms. Uniform like a kid that wasn’t understanding things wouldn’t help. It wouldn’t. It was just too easy when she kept acting like she didn’t know what I knew she knew. “I have an identic memory. You’ve been giving me brain teasers and logic puzzles, but they’re not doing anything but prove what you know from my Gifted files.” I sighed and put down the puzzle to put my head in my hands. Tired. So, so very tired. And anemic. I wanted Chinese. Something with peanuts and chicken.

Ms. Uniform was not happy with me. Not at all. I didn’t care. I was in trouble, and I knew it. “When can I go home?” Whining. Again. Bad, bad Crystal. Whining is for dogs begging at the table, not personal assistants just out of school.

“You can’t.” Folder snap, which meant a frown and a glare. Looking up at the glare would only make it worse. Instead I focused on her shoes. “Ms. Lewis, what can you tell me about your necklace?”

My necklace? Mom’s necklace. My hand touched where it normally would rest under my shirt. They had taken it when Ms. Uniform tackled me. Right before I was restrained in the hospital. They hadn’t given it back. That wasn’t nice. I missed it. I wanted it back.

“It was my mom’s.” I was whispering. Crying hadn’t won points yet, so crying wouldn’t get the necklace back. Pouting wouldn’t either. Working with Ms. Uniform might get it back. She knew that I knew my options. She knew which one I would pick. Bitch was good at her job; had to give her that much.

“Do you know where she got it?” I shook my head. Didn’t know. Didn’t care. Didn’t bother to ask cause mom never answered personal questions. I didn’t even know who my grandparents were.   
Not really.

She stood up, “Ms. Lewis,” my restraints were removed and I looked up, “I believe it’s time for a field trip.”


	5. Rebooting - or - S.H.I.E.L.D. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal finally gets some decent clothes, fails at interacting with someone with whom she has a crush on, and learns a big secret (lie?).

A bra! They finally gave me a bra! They kept me in that stupid hospital gown for-like-EVER, and I didn’t even get to have a bra on when that- that- what was his name? Agent… agent… Agent Alex! When he came to visit. Awkwaaaaaaaaaard.

I mean, yeah, he was totally a space cadet so it didn’t really matter that he saw me with my bra off in that stupid gown, but- oh GOD! Dr. Banner saw me without a bra, and my make-up was a mess and- oh no, no no no.

“It- it’s gonna be okay,” I muttered to myself, “he’s a doctor, well, not really that type of doctor, but still he’s probably seen tons of people with their clothing off-” I stopped, cheeks turning a little red at the implication of what I just said as my brain tried to reboot.

I just needed to get this bra on, and then- then- …Shit.

“Ma’am?” I called out, peeking my head a little outside the door, keeping my arms behind my back and trying to make the bra clasp. If nothing else it was hiding my breasts from view from the guard two doors down.

Ms. Uniform sighed. Irritation, frustration, hitch in her shoulder, crease in her temple. She didn’t like me. That was okay, not everyone did. I’d prefer it if they didn’t, made not getting close to them easier. “Yes, Ms. Lewis?” she asked while rubbing at her forehead.

“Uhm…” Shit. How do you word this? How do you ask for this with a guy- a GUY just right THERE. Like thirty feet from you. SHIT. Crap. “Uhm…” I repeated. Angry Ms. Uniform, angry Ms. Uniform, work brain! Quick! “Do you…” shit, now he’s looking at me – and my cheeks are red, fuck my life! “…have a bigger size than this?” I whispered my question, keeping my absolutely not red face, nope, no it was not, blushing did not exist right now, away from Mr. Uniform just down the hallway.

Wait. Hold the phone. What the literal hell? She was- she was LAUGHING. She could laugh? I wanted to reach out and touch her, but I had the feeling that would end very badly… like, my finger being broken badly. I liked my fingers. I wanted to keep them, thank you very much.

I absolutely did not blink and stare at her like an idiot when she stopped giggling- GIGGLING I tell you – until she left to go get me a different bra and shirt/upper body clothing/jacket thing. I didn’t. Didn’t happen. And- and I was almost standing in the hallway with just a bra and pants on.

I couldn’t have shut the door any faster. No, really. I couldn’t have. I was like a ninja with that shit.

They took for fuckin’ ever to get me something that fit – what they didn’t have anyone above a D-cup in this damn building – and when we finally did there was still no coffee. I was cranky. This bra fit like crap. These pants were too tight. I was tired. Ms. Uniform was a bitch… is a bitch. She wouldn’t tell me where we were going, and there had better be coffee where we were going or so help me-

“Dr. Banner could you pull up the information on Ms. Lewis’s necklace?” Wait- what? Dr. Banner was here? …In a really nice purple shirt, and ruffled hair, and dress pants, and-

rebooting…

rebooting…

rebooting…

Coffee! Sweet glorious- I coughed on the horribly made black sludge that was sitting in the coffee machine on the far side of the room. Bruce was there, looking as adorable as ever, and don’t look up, don’t look up- focus on making the coffee. They’d let me remake this coffee, right? I couldn’t blow up the facility or turn coffee into crystals, could I? I shuddered, cringing away from Dr. Banner’s sudden attention. What was that?

“Could you come over here please Ms. Lewis?” Redness. On. My. Face. Coffee was still needed, but it was brewing- and- and-

reboot…

reboot…

/action/sit in chair…

/action/look up at Dr. Banner…

/activate auditory responses…

“-so as you can see Ms. Lewis’s necklace contains an intricate structure of an alloy imbued with some sort of energy that seems to be emitting a subtle amount of radiation that is well within safety parameters.” MY necklace? My NECKLACE was emitting RADIATION? Crap! Crap! Do not spill the crappy coffee on the borrowed clothes – do NOT.

And suddenly he was looking at me, and I was an absolute mess, and there was some coffee on my knee- she was looking at me. Ms. Uniform had her shoulders straight, slight upward tilt of the left side of the- she was AMUSED. She thought I was funny- oh god, oh god oh god oh god she could TELL. She KNEW I had a crush on Dr. Banner, and now the whole world was going to blow up and die in a single fiery bit of-

“-the necklace is from, uhm, this region-” Darcy pointed to the Carpathian Mountains and then down towards Egypt. Darcy was twitching. Darcy smelled like coffee. Darcy had coffee grounds on her shirt. SHE was the one that made the shitty coffee which kept me from-  
Staring. Staring people. Again.

“…Yes?” I was totally paying attention. Absolutely was. Was not gonna get in trouble in the top secret government agency, no I was not.

Ms. Uniform seemed to disagree. She lifted her eyebrow at me, oh I hated it when people did that, and continued for Darcy, “We’ve traced your mother’s family back to an ancient magic tribe that coexisted with the Romani people.” Everyone was quiet. I didn’t like this. Why was everyone quiet? People shouldn’t be quiet. Breathe. I needed to breathe. I was not in trouble. No way that I was in trouble-

“Ms. Lewis you have a half-brother, and he’s in this facility right now.”

Blink. Blink. What? “No I don’t.” I spat back without thinking, staring at her in shock. Dr. Banner shuffled uncomfortably on his feet. Darcy was fiddling with her phone and looking anywhere but at me.

I looked at all of them, frowning. “No, I don’t.” I emphasized my point by standing up and towering over Ms. Uniform. Height gave power. Semblance of power. Control. “I do not-” my voice cracked, and those were not tears, “My- my- my mom would have told me-” I was NOT crying, “would- would have told me if I-” a very large, gentle hand rested on my shoulder. Dr. Banner didn’t like upset people. Dr. Banner didn’t like crying. Dr. Banner always tried to help those who were upset around him so that he didn’t get upset.

He was very yoga. My hand rested on his without thinking, and I fell in line with his breathing. Deep and in. Out and short. Deep and in. Out and longer. Deep and in… out and long.

Ms. Uniform wasn’t phased – at all. She knew I was gonna react like this- serves her right, the bitch had kept coffee outta my system for a week- Deep and in… out and long.

She stared me down, made me look at her. She made me look her in the eyes. “His name is Anderson Petulengro and we’d like you to meet him.”


	6. Cue Coulson - or - The Transfer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal has now been officially absorbed into S.H.I.E.L.D. and she has some very choice words to say about this.

Liars.

All of them.

That’s what they all are - dirty rotten stinking fucking liars.

First I have a half-brother. Who is in this facility. That my mother never told me about.

Now he’s been missing in action for a few years. They have no clue where he is. They aren’t even highly sure if he’s alive or not. They just have some sort of half-brained idea that he might possibly be alive. He’s considered to be missing. Somewhere. In a coma.

After that they expect me to join them. Join S.H.I.E.L.D. They think that because my daddy used to work for them - because I have these powers that they own me.

I’m sick of these people already. I don’t like them. I want to say as much - but I hold my tongue. Crying gets you nowhere. Screaming would end up worse.

I’m sitting in this guy’s office. Agent Coulson. Apparently he’s important or something. He reminds me a little of Ms. Pepper. That reassures me - but not by much.

I keep picking at the hem of my shirt, tearing out little bits of cloth and not looking at him. “Miss Lewis,” he waits. Patiently. I don’t want to look at him. Can’t look at him. If I look up then I have to look at Ms. Uniform. I don’t want to look at her.

Agent Coulson sighs, he sounds put-upon. I seem to be annoying everyone these days. Except Dr. Banner. I fidget in my chair and look up as Agent Coulson continues, “Ms. Anderson is being assigned as your case agent. She will be reporting on your progress as you learn to control your powers.”

No- oh no, no no no. That’s really funny - but no. No gonna happen.

I was leaning across the table, I was practically crawling over his desk. Apparently I was talking out loud when I didn’t mean to again. Shit. Shit shit shit.

Coulson wasn’t phased. In the slightest. He wasn’t paying any attention to my protests. “Ms. Anderson is a rather… special agent of ours.” 

Smirk, shoulders straightened. Ms. Uniform was smug. Smug bitch to look over little old me, to look over the freak, to report in on the freak- I was talking out loud again.

“You are not a freak, you simply possess some special skills that S.H.I.E.L.D. would like to see be put to good use-” Agent Coulson rebutted my commentary. Special skills. Putting to good use. Yeah. He means poking me full of needles, experiments-

“Nothing like that,” I was assured.

Liars. All of them.

“Ms. Lewis,” Ms. Uniform cut into my angry thoughts, met my haggard gaze dead-on, “we are not like the hospital you were institutionalized in. We do not intend on locking you up. We intend on training you so that you can no longer be afraid of your-“

Standing. Angry yelling. “I am not afraid of-“

Anger met with directed force, redirected to shock and agitation, “I know when you’re lying   
Ms. Lewis. That’s my power.”

/action/sitting down…

/action/close mouth…

/action/listen…

“I am being assigned as your handler because I can help you shape your powers, and know when you’re lying about your abilities and your feelings-“

/action/observe and report…

Ms. Uniform is standing close. She’s wearing a flowery perfume. Forehead crinkle. Nose pinch. Frustration at lack of response.

“Dr. Banner will be the one to teach you how to use your powers, along with a science team to discover the exact origin of this… magic you inherited from your mother.” 

I did not just squeak. I did not. My cheeks are absolutely not the color of a rose, they are not. My hands were not firmly clamped over my mouth to deny that I ever made such a noise. 

They are not. 

She’s smiling. The bitch was smiling. Again. She knew I would react like this - fucking son of a- “Your training starts tomorrow morning. Until then, you will receive a tour of the facility as well as your new room.” 

I got up and started towards the door. Like a mature adult, and not a girl skittering away from the embarrassment of making a cute noise at the discovery that her crush is going to be giving her private lessons-

“Oh, and Ms. Lewis?” I turned around as Agent Coulson spoke, catching the sight of Ms. Uniform picking up a pile of paperwork undoubtedly to do with me, “Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D. and don’t worry - Ms. Potts has already been briefed on the news of your transfer.”

That was when my heart fell onto the floor and cracked.


	7. I can't leave. - or - Trial Phase 1 Alpha Testing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal receives special instruction and learns some new things.

They didn’t trust me. I was dangerous. I could hurt people. They didn’t want anyone near me.

That was fine. I didn’t want to be near anyone. Getting close to people was dangerous. You can’t love a freak. Freaks only hurt you. Especially freaks that can turn their blood into-

Dr. Banner’s hand. On my shoulder. “Crystal, I need you to focus-” Yeah, like that’s easy. Ever. Worse when he’s around. Hand on my shoulder. Oh. my. god. Was that his cologne? It was, wasn't it? Oh it smelled so good…

Wait. Focus. Right. Gotta show Dr. Banner I can do this.

Gotta show Ms. Uniform that they don’t need to put me down.

Permanently.

Hand out. Deep breath. Focus on the cup of blood on the table. Focus. Focus- wait. Why was everything warm? Why did Dr. Banner feel warmer than usual? Close eyes. Focus on the warmth. 

Focus on the- no, no no no. Don’t focus on the warmth.

Focus on the cup. Focus on the stuff over there. Focus, focus focus focus… crack!

The cup broke. I know it broke. Open your eyes, slowly, very slowly… The cup is gone, instead just one big spikey crystal. Good. That was supposed to happen.

But- I could do more with it, right? I could, couldn’t I? Like- yeah, like that. Tearing apart the small pieces from the big one, make them all separate… and suspended in the air like- yep. Like that. What else could I-

“Crystal!”

Shit! Shit shit fuck! Blood all over me, on the ground, covering my clothes. Angry Ms. Uniform, angry Ms. Uniform! I was not cringing back when she marched over to me. I was not.

Her hand was on my shoulder, but I didn’t really want her to touch me and oh god she was irritated- “Doing more than simple things right now will scare the researchers.” She was whispering. She had never whispered before.

Glance over at the people. One of them, a woman with short black hair, was trembling. Hands couldn't hold her clip board. It fell. She picked it up as the man beside her stared at me. 

He was scribbling notes. Eyes crinkled, smirk. Satisfied? Creepily interested. The last one was quiet. His stare was even more unsettling than the creepy guy.

Not good. Science experiment. Too interesting. No! No no no, I was not going to be stuck in here. I couldn’t be stuck in here. I didn’t want to be a science experiment-

“Shh…” Dr. Banner’s two fingers were on my pulse. He was standing behind me like before. 

“Breathe deeply, Crystal…” Breathe in, breathe out. I dropped the crystals I’d pulled from my shirt after my accident. “That’s it…” Breathe in deeply, breathe out slowly…

Bruce squeezed my shoulder. Job well done. I didn’t blush. That middle guy wasn’t creepily staring at me. I wasn’t shaking.

I wanted to leave. “Now, let’s try something a little more complex.” I couldn’t leave.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it through all of this - thank you. I know reading something written in Crystal's POV can be a bit hard because of how quickly it jumps around. I was trying to show her personality as best as I could, and I know that the way this is written can grate on some people's nerves.


End file.
